Slovakia

The morning was spent having our last breakfast with Susanne and Sabine before we caught the train into Vienna again, arriving around lunchtime. We checked in at our hostel in Vienna, as we wanted to spend a few days taking day trips, and hoping Vienna could redeem itself after the first day. After grabbing a quick lunch, we made our way to the bus stop to travel to Bratislava in Slovakia for an evening (as the bus only takes an hour). The next bus didn’t leave until 4.30pm, so we had a few hours to kill, and grabbed a coffee at a local café before lazing in the park until it was time to leave.

We arrived in Bratislava an hour later past the grey communist housing blocks and the castle set on the hill – such a contrast. It was time for yet another new language and a new currency. Walking up to the castle, one of Bratislava’s main attractions, we eventually found it closed for renovations… we could only walk the perimeter, but still got a great view from the top. The strange ‘UFO’ tower bridge hovers above the river, an odd architectural inclusion to the city. In the shadow of the castle lies the old town, which is a beautiful area, where we sat down to have drinks at a bar on the side of the street (everything was incredibly cheap here). We then found a place for dinner, which was a cave-like interior with a vaulted ceiling, where the noises of someone on the other side of the room circulate around you. It was a very cosy place, and perfect for our one night out here before catching a bus back to Vienna.

We shared a bottle of local white wine recommended by the waiter, which was absolutely delicious (and we should have written the name of it down…), and shared entrees of smoked trout, picked camembert and stuffed chillies – all fantastic. Our mains were all very tasty as well – the highlight was Andrew’s venison stew, which was impeccably cooked in a mouth-watering sauce. Slovakia is also a place where being a vegetarian is incredibly difficult. We had heard that adding bacon bits to a salad isn’t considered meat as it’s on a salad… hmmm…

Very full and satisfied, we strolled to the main street for one last drink before catching our 11pm bus back to Vienna. After waiting for a while, asking the ticket lady whether the bus was still coming (she said it was, but later packed up and went home, which had us a bit worried) and individually contemplating where to sleep should the bus not arrive, it eventually pulled in and we dozed along the way back to Vienna.